It's no secret that big American cities like New York are awash in new luxury condos. But many of the people buying them aren't locals: They're investors from China and other Asian countries who are creating a huge foreign investment boom in American real estate.

Updated

02/06/2015 - 10:45am

How does picking the tomato compare to the onion? And what about strawberries? One Mexican American migrant farmworker who lives in California's Central Valley took us to the produce aisle to tell us what he sees when he's at the supermarket.

The old Soviet car isn't even in the United States. But there's a guy selling Lada parts in Miami. Call hm the Lada whisperer. Cuban expats flock to him, getting the parts for the many old Ladas still chugging along Cuba's streets.

Voters in Greece have thrown their support behind Alexis Tsipras, the leader of a left-wing, anti-austerity party called Syriza. Tsipras says his first task as prime minister will be to renegotiate the tough economic measures imposed on Greece by the Eurozone, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Tsipras says he wants to give Greeks their dignity back.

Don't be embarrassed. We all look at the off-the-wall products offered in in-flight magazine SkyMall. Now that the company has filed for bankruptcy, let us commiserate about the products that we will never again not have.

Updated

01/22/2015 - 8:00am

The myth of energy independence, despite US assertions. "If I was Saudi Arabia, and I didn't want to lose marketshare to these producers in Texas, I would send them a signal that any time I want to ... I can basically ruin the economics of your industry," says one energy expert.

Only two countries in the world have no protected right to paid maternity leave: Papua New Guinea and the United States. But after a call for maternity leave in the State of the Union, President Barack Obama is trying to change that in 2015.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is pushing immigration as one solution to Detroit's economic woes. He's asked the Obama Administration to designate 50,000 visas to attract skilled immigrants and entrepreneurs to the bankrupt city during the next five years. But Detroit's existing immigrant communities insist they be included in the economic strategy to bring Detroit back.

Updated

02/06/2015 - 10:45am

How does picking the tomato compare to the onion? And what about strawberries? One Mexican American migrant farmworker who lives in California's Central Valley took us to the produce aisle to tell us what he sees when he's at the supermarket.

A women's rights group in France is claiming that women are charged more than men on what are basically the same products. Now they're taking the issue to the government and demanding an end to what they call a tax on being female.

One of the selling points of Huy Fong sriracha is that it's made from fresh chilis. But processing them in its factory in Irwindale, CA, has led those nearby to complain of irritating fumes. Now a judge has denied their request to stop chili processing at the factory.

For some foreigners, the H1B, a temporary, skilled-worker visa, is one way to work legally in the US; Some argue that companies pay H1B holders less than their American counterparts, while foreigners can feel shackled to their employers.

Brazil is investing nearly a billion dollars in Cuba's new state-of-the art deep sea port and free trade zone. The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Havana says both nations are planning for a time when Washington has lifted trade sanctions on the socialist nation.

It's hard to be an entrepreneur in France these days, what with government regulation and a French attitude that failure is just bad form. So some French entrepreneurs are settling in Silicon Valley and bringing their French style with them.

Across Africa, many HIV-positive women would like to have children, but they face a dilemma: How can they become pregnant without putting their partners at risk? Dr. Okeoma Mmeje, an ob-gyn at the University of Michigan, offers an inexpensive solution.

Lincoln Paine's new book "The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World." looks at the importance of the world's seas and oceans through history for the exchange of goods, people, ideas and religion.

The battle over labeling GMO foods has prompted food companies to pour $27 million into lobbying efforts — just in the last six months. With a lawsuit arguing that Vermont's GMO labeling law is unconstitutional and fights to stop labeling initiatives in other states, the big food lobbying push is likely to keep growing.

It's hard enough finding clothes that fit when you're a large size, but what about when you're under five feet tall? Pien Huang thought she had the answer, but the small sizing that makes her love Japanese chain Uniqlo means that the company's US stores are losing money.

It may seem hard to believe, but Toyota almost didn't make it in the US. Its first car, the Toyopet Crown, was a flop. Toyota helped establish a huge Japanese-American community in Torrance, California that finds it hard to imagine the company is moving on.

Thousands of Chinese workers, many of them teenagers, become seriously ill from chemicals used in factories producing Apple products. A new documentary called "Who Pays The Price?" is following the lives, and deaths, of some workers and may have already led to changes in the Apple's foreign practices.

Amidst the turmoil that has slow Libya's economy and plunged the country's political system into turmoil, there is one bright light. The city of Misrata, one of the hotspots of the revolution, has an economy that is thriving — but locals say it won't achieves its full potential until the country gets on the right track.